Opinion polls have shown that a quarter to a third of Britons believe arape victim is responsible for being attacked if she is drunk or is wearingprovocative clothing. As many as one in two young men believe there are some circumstances in which it's OK to force a woman to have sex.

Just 5.7% of rapes officially recorded by police in England and Wales end in a conviction. And, as Julie Bindel reported last year, the majority of cases resulting in an acquittal now involve a complainant who has been drinking.

So you'd think the government would want to give out the message that rape is not justified in any circumstances, wouldn't you? But I've just logged in to Facebook to see an advert from Directgov, the official government website for citizens.

Visit the site and you'll be given the following advice, along with some very sensible tips about planning your journey home and interspersing alcoholic drinks with water: "Would you get in with a man you just met? One in three rapes reported happens when the victim has been drinking."

It's not clear whether they mean "get in" a car or "get in" to bed. But hang on just a minute. The majority of rape victims know their attackers. Exact statistics on this vary, but one Home Office report estimated that only 12% of rapes were committed by strangers, while an analysis of rape crisis helplines found that 97% of callers knew their attackers prior to being assaulted.

And what, exactly, does "drinking" mean? One unit? Two units? Enough to make you puke? The advert makes a valid point: if you drink alcohol you are lowering your inhibitions and, potentially, putting yourself in danger. But it makes its point badly. And it implies that if you're drunk and you're the victim of rape then you're to blame.

You could argue that a rape victim who was attacked while drunk could have reduced her chances of being raped had they stayed sober (likewise if she never left the house, or wore a padlocked chastity belt). I'm also less likely to be hit by a car running a red light if I don't cross the road. That doesn't mean it's my fault.

In the bottom left-hand corner of the site, there's a picture of a serious-looking woman. Thinking this might have more information on rape statistics, I clicked on it. It took me to a YouTube video of a "Fashion show gone wrong!" in which a model urinates on the catwalk. She's too drunk. She's lost control. It's her own fault.

Are we supposed to think this about rape victims, too? Far too many people already do, and adverts like this one just perpetuate these myths.